MUSIC. 
devices of his seniors in the art. The fol- 
fowiug description, aided hy reference to 
the plate will, we trust, convey to the rea- 
der the fullest idea of the inventor’s merit, 
and, at the same moment, aft'ord so com- 
plete an insight into the succession of 
sounds, and to the allotments of parts mark- 
ed with ditferent clefs, as must give the 
utmost satisfaction. 
Fig. 1, Plate Music, exliibits the grand 
musical scale of John de Murio, consisting 
of eleven lines. Tlie five uppermost are dis- 
tinguished by a figure something like that 
which serves as an abbreviation for the 
word and — thus Sf. It was formerly meant 
for a written G, and is supposed to stand 
on the second line of the five included in 
the treble stave, i. e. the eighth of the 
whole stave, reckoning, as is the invari- 
able rule in music, from the bottom up- 
wards. This figure is called the G clef, 
and purports that the music standing on 
the stave appertains to the treble class of 
voices, or of instruments. The order, and 
the names of the notes appertaining tliere- 
to, afe severally shewn, commencing with 
that G which stands under these ledger 
lines, and rising to D in alt, which will 
suffice to exemplify the extent of five 
octaves, and the manner in which the 
ledger lines are used to such notes as do 
not come within the compass of the stave. 
The five lowest lines in the stave apper- 
tain to the bass clef, which is distinguished 
by an inverted C standing to the fourth line, 
on each side of which is a large dot, close 
to the back of the C. The presence of 
this sign denotes that the music appertains 
to that class of voices, or of instruments, 
whose deep tones rank them among the 
bass, or lowest species. The ledger lines 
appropriate to the basses, all stand below 
the first line of their stave, in contradis- 
tinction to the treble ledgers, which stand 
above ; this is necessary to be well under- 
stood, because whenever ledgers are added 
above the bass stave, the music, in reality, 
has changed its subordinate station, and has 
ascended into the class of tenors and so- 
pranos, as will be seen. Nor can ledgers 
be added under the treble stave, without 
causing the music to partake of those tones 
which are also appropriate to the tenors. 
For the treble clef G, and the bass clef F, 
cannot be changed from the lines on which 
they are placed, and to which they respec- 
tively give name ; the second of tlie treble 
being called the G line, and the fourth of 
tlie bass being called the F line. 
The sixth, or middle line, which, fijr the 
sake of distinction, is made much thicker 
than the other ten, is called the C, or tenor 
line. Its characteristic sign is made by 
three perpendicular lines, extending to a 
depth corresponding with the thicknesg of 
the whole stave, i. e. of five lines, and ter- 
minated by a K ; the two middle perpendi- 
culars are joined by two short, thick, hori- 
zontal lines, equidistant from their centres. 
This sign is called the C, or tenor clef ; it is 
moveable, but on whatever line its centre 
stands, the notes upon that line all become 
C, and the whole nomenclature of the 
notes on the stave changes in comformity 
thereto. The tenor clef governs the stave 
it is on, and occasions those who sing or 
perform its music to be called tenors ; but 
of dilFerent degrees, according as the stave 
is found. This requires particular descrip- 
. tion : the tenor clef may remain on the C 
line, and taking two lines from the bass, 
and two from the treble, complete its stave : 
in such case it is called the alto, and is al- 
ways prefixed to every line of the music 
intended to be played on the tenor violin, 
or alto, or quinte, as it is variously desig- 
nated. It also applies to such voices as 
answer to that particular pitch. But as 
the greatest variety of voices lie between 
the treble and the bass parts, it was found 
necessary to move the tenor clef higher or 
lower, for the purpose of accommodating 
to those many and various compasses which 
were found to be the greatest supports to 
the harmony ; they connecting the extremes, 
i. e. of treble and bass, and sustaining the 
great body of the chorus, Jtc. To effect 
this, instead of confining the tenor stave to 
the C line, added to the two adjoining up- 
per lines of the bass, and to the two lower 
of the treble, liberty was given to take, at 
pleasure, one, two, three, or even four lines 
from the treble, adding them above the C 
line ; thus requiring only one, two, or three 
lines to be taken from the bass stave to 
complete the tenor stave to five lines. 
Hence we see, that instead of taking two 
lines from the bass, and two from the tre- 
ble, as is done at A, fig. 1, to form the 
complement of its stave ; at B it takes only 
one from the treble, and adds three from 
the bass to form a stave, which sinks the 
whole of the music a fifth, i. e. five notes. 
Again, at C, it borrows none from the bass, 
but takes four lines from the treble ; this is 
called the soprano-tenor-clef, which de- 
presses the music one third, that is, three 
notes j it is usually applicable to such voices 
